ANBL Announces Pilot Liquor Store for Elsipogtog
ELSIPOGTOG FIRST NATION–A pilot project announced by the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation (ANBL), in partnership with Elsipogtog First Nation, may result in a full-time liquor store in the community.
Announced in late March, the First Nations Agency Store Pilot Program will bring a liquor store to the Elsipogtog Commercial Center, just off Rte. 116.
“This is the first time we’ve done a pilot like this. We have agents all over the province and quite a few of them are selected by locations where there’s an opportunity,” said Lara Wood, ANBL’s VP of communications.
The Elsipogtog pilot is unique in that the First Nation approached ANBL with a proposal, instead of the other way around.
“It was a really solid proposal, so that’s how the pilot project came about,” Wood said.
Wood told Huddle the first-of-its-kind pilot will last about a year, giving the Crown corp enough time to gather enough data.
“Certainly, the whole approach to the pilot is to see how the relationship works and assess the project. Based on the results, there’s opportunity for similar pilots,” she said.
Construction is already underway on a berth for the store in the Mi’kmaq community, located about an hour north of Moncton, in the 17,500 –square-foot Commercial Center, which opened in 2016.
The Commercial Centre is also home to a First Nation-owned Pharmasave and the River of Fire Market grocery store.
Wood noted that depending on how long the construction takes, the community could see the liquor store open as early as late summer.
“But fall would be a safe bet. Maybe a bit sooner, depending on construction,” she said.
The pilot is expected to generate as much as $2.5-million in sales and will bring nine jobs to the community. The Crown corp plans to open a permanent liquor store will open sometime in late 2022.
“We do have a store in Richibucto and a couple of agents in the area, but based on the sort of traffic and convenience of it, there’s an opportunity for an additional agent in Elsipogtog,” she said.
The new location will be owned and operated by Elsipogtog Economic Development, the community’s economic development agency.
The pilot store will follow the same guidelines, operating structure, retail standards, and social responsibility requirements as any other ANBL agency store. Wood said there won’t be aren’t any significant differences from the store run in Elsipogtog, versus other ANBL locations through the province, its ownership aside.
“All our agents are private, so as long as they meet the requirements in terms of safety and responsible selling and consistent with those elements, how they run the store beyond the contract is up to them.”
ANBL has 40 corporate retail outlets 88 private agency store outlets, 87 local producer agency store, and 67 grocery stores.
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].